Chapter 6: What are they like?

Theme: This chapter describes the astronauts as a group, their hopes, fears, and reasons for volunteering for Mercury.

Everyone asks, “What are they really like? Are they really set apart from other men, or do they have their own individual foibles and problems like the rest of us?” From a distance, viewed through the distorting mirror of the press, the astronauts may seem to be cut from a common mold. They often appear modeled on a combination of Frank Merriwell, Horatio Alger, and Buck Rogers. But these are not dime novel or comic strip characters. They are individual human beings with all the complexity of character which that implies. Their similarities result from a lifelong dedication to a common profession -- aviation. In those areas only briefly touched by their professional lives, or in those traits of personality and character formed prior to their entry into aviation, they are different as are the members of any other professional group.

However, aviation as a career exerts a stronger conditioning effect on life than many other professions. Moreover, these are highly successful individuals in their profession, so the mold is even more forcefully set. They were carefully selected for maturity, intelligence, social effectiveness, and other characteristics which give them more traits in common than most groups have. More than two dozen significant psychological traits have been recognized in our evaluation of the astronauts, and together they describe the typical astronaut. In many ways he is the embodiment of the American folk hero. Beginning in reasonably humble circumstances in a small-town environment, with a good family life and strong Protestant tradition, he worked his way up through a series of challenges. Each success raised his sights to the next goal, and reinforced his confidence in his own ability to meet any challenge.

While much in their lives fits this rather austere American success story, they are also products of the aviation environment which tends to breed an “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” attitude. Their lives are high paced. If they work hard, they also play hard. Working hours are long, as are the recreation hours. It is the sleep that suffers. But their good health gives them a great reserve of energy which never seems to be depleted.

Do they show fear? Certainly. Do they reflect annoyance? Of course. But what produces fear and annoyance are not those factors which most of us might expect -- the hazard of their profession, the launching delays. Rather, it is the fear that a medical problem or a spacecraft malfunction will deprive them of their opportunity to fly.

And what of the wives? Do they show more concern over the possible dangers than their husbands? Inside, probably. But to the public it shows no more. The families are conditioned to the life they lead. The families, no less than the astronauts themselves, see this as a natural extension of the aviation career. With them they recognize the hazard, but they see it as no greater than the one they have faced throughout their lives.